October 23
1900s-1960s *1910 - Philadelphia Athletics pitcher Jack Coombs won his third game of the World Series, beating the Chicago Cubs, 7–2, as the Athletics took the championship in five games. Eddie Collins helped Coombs with three hits, including two doubles. *1920 - The Chicago grand jury indictment adds the names of former featherweight boxing champ Abe Attell and baseball players Hal Chase and Bill Burns as go-betweens in the 1919 World Series scandal. Ed Cicotte, Shoeless Jackson, Lefty Williams and Happy Felsch sign confessions, which they later recant. *1923 - Babe Ruth makes a postseason appearance in a New York Giants uniform as the Giants defeat the minor-league Baltimore Orioles 9–0. Ruth hits a home run over the right field roof at the Polo Grounds. The game is a benefit for destitute former Giants owner John Day. *1935 - Gabby Hartnett is selected by the Baseball Writers Association of America as the National League MVP, with Dizzy Dean the runner-up. *1945 - Branch Rickey announces the signing of Jackie Robinson by the Brooklyn Dodgers organization. The 26-year old Negro League star will be the first black player to play in organized baseball since 1884. *1951 - Leo Durocher of the New York Giants is selected Manager of the Year by The Associated Press. *1952 - The Pacific Coast League announces its teams will play 176-game schedule next season. 1970s-1990s *1974 - The Cubs trade sweet-swinging Billy Williams, a fixture at Wrigley Field for 16 years, to the Oakland Athletics for second baseman Manny Trillo and pitchers Darold Knowles and Bob Locker. *1979 - Billy Martin is involved in a barroom altercation with Joseph Cooper, a Minnesota marshmallow salesman. Cooper requires 15 stitches to close a gash in his lip. *1981 - Los Angeles beat the Yankees 5–4 in Game Three of the World Series, narrowing the Yankees' lead to 2-1. *1984 - Rick Sutcliffe, who was 16-1 for the Cubs after arriving from Cleveland two days before the June 15 trading deadline, is a unanimous choice as NL Cy Young Award winner. *1985 - John Tudor pitched a five-hit, 3–0 victory over the Kansas City Royals, giving the St. Louis Cardinals a 3-1 lead in the World Series. *1986 - At Fenway Park, Bruce Hurst's complete game victory gave the Boston Red Sox a 4–2 win and 3-2 lead in the World Series against the New York Mets. Hurst scattered 10 hits with one walk and six strikeouts. *1991 - Mark Lemke hits his second triple of the night in the ninth inning and then scores on a close play on Jerry Willard's sacrifice fly for Atlanta's 3–2 win over the Twins. *1993 - In one of the most dramatic endings in World Series history, Joe Carter hits a three-run, ninth inning home run off Mitch Williams for an 8–6 win and Toronto's second straight World Championship. Paul Molitor, who hits .500 (12-for-24), is named Series MVP while Lenny Dykstra of the Phillies, who hit .348 with four home runs, did everything except pitch. *1996 - At Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, the Braves jump to a 6–0 lead, but the Yankees mount their biggest comeback in World Series history with a three-run home run by Jim Leyritz that ties the game in the eighth inning. After Bernie Williams is intentionally walked with runners on first base and second in the 10th, Steve Avery walks Wade Boggs to bring in the deciding run. *1997 - The Florida Marlins move within one win of their first World Series title as Moisés Alou hits his second three-run home run of the Series against Cleveland Indians pitcher Orel Hershiser. Rookie Liván Hernández pitches into the ninth inning of Game Five and Florida holds off the Indians 8–7. *1998 - Davey Johnson is hired as the manager of the Dodgers. The former Mets, Reds and Orioles skipper has finished first with evey team he has managed. 2000s *2005 - The Chicago White Sox crashed two of the more dramatic home runs in recent World Series history to score a 7–6 victory against the Houston Astros and take a two-games-to-none lead in the Series. Paul Konerko, who hit 40 homers in the regular season, and Scott Podsednik, who hit none, provided the fireworks. Konerko, the ALCS MVP, hit a grand slam in the seventh inning to give the White Sox a 6–4 lead. After the Astros tied the score in the ninth against Chicago closer Bobby Jenks, Podsednik smacked a 2-1 pitch from Houston closer Brad Lidge into the bleachers in right-center field to trigger a boisterous celebration. Births *1832 - William Hulbert, Hall of Fame executive (d. 1882) *1894 - Rube Bressler, outfielder (d. 1955) *1907 - Lee Grissom, All-Star pitcher (d. 1998) *1920 - Vern Stephens, All-Star infielder (d. 1968) *1922 - Ewell Blackwell, All-Star pitcher (d. 1996) *1931 - Jim Bunning, Hall of Fame pitcher *1954 - John Castino, infielder *1961 - Jim Presley, All-Star infielder *1965 - Al Leiter, All-Star pitcher *1972 - Giomar Guevara, pitcher *1975 - Kazuo Matsui, infielder *1976 - David Riske, pitcher *1978 - John Lackey, pitcher *1979 - Ramón A. Castro, infielder *1980 - Pedro Liriano, pitcher Deaths *1943 - Heinie Peitz, (b. 1870) *1996 - Bob Grim, All-Star pitcher (b. 1930) *2000 -Hank Wyse, All-Star pitcher (b. 1918) *2005 - Harry Dalton, executive (b. 1928)